Of all the sports across the globe, there is perhaps none as diverse as the world of motorsports.

It is not uncommon to see drivers in IHRA competition come from countries such as the United States, England, Canada – even the tiny island of Aruba – but one place you don’t often associate with racing is the often forgot state of Alaska.

Big in area but small in fan base, Alaska is not usually known for its drag racing.

Jay Childs hopes to change that.

Of all the sports across the globe, there is perhaps none as diverse as the world of motorsports.

It is not uncommon to see drivers in IHRA competition come from countries such as the United States, England, Canada – even the tiny island of Aruba – but one place you don’t often associate with racing is the often forgot state of Alaska.

Big in area but small in fan base, Alaska is not usually known for its drag racing.

Jay Childs hopes to change that.

Growing up in Anchorage, Childs has been around racing his entire life even when it wasn’t the most popular thing to do. Watching his father, Childs learned the ins and outs of the sport and learned to love tinkering with a race car on the weekends.

“My dad started me off. He has been racing since before I was born so it was just a natural fit for me,” Childs said. “We were always working on his cars, playing around with anything motorized – it has always been my life. Some people even joke that I was conceived at a race track in Alaska.”

And that love of the sport eventually led to Childs getting into a car of his own.

Beginning with tuning his dad’s door car, Childs eventually decided to try it for himself and build a car of his own. Starting out in the door car ranks, Childs eventually moved up to a funny car when he constructed an Alcohol Funny Car a few years back.

While he has had opportunities to race his AFC at a few tracks around Alaska and western Canada, last weekend's IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals marked his first try at running a national event and for Childs that meant the realization of a lifelong dream beginning with making his very first full quarter mile pass last Friday afternoon.

“We have been coming here for years, but this is the first time we have got to bring our funny car and yesterday was the first full quarter mile pass we have made,” Childs said. “It felt really good to bring our car up here and make that run.”

Childs put the butterflies behind him and focused on turning in a good performance in Edmonton.

“In Alaska you might have 100 people come out and when we pulled out here yesterday it was like having stage fright there were so many people,” Childs said. “This is a big deal for us. We get to showcase what we can do in front of a bunch of people at what we consider our home track. This is the pinnacle of our summer every year.”
 

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